Episode 139: (Shining Armor): dnaL railimaF A nI regnartS-Stranger In A Familiar Land Part 2
Pony POV Series
"Shining Armor"
Chapter 18 2 of 2
It was when we reached the mess, I almost made quite a mess of it. Gag was waiting, with the Hoofmaidens suspiciously close by. Sunset gave me a strange look.
"So, uh, Captain, is there any particular reason you wanted to join us?" Garnet asked, having presumably started to think something was up.
"Not really, just want to try get to know you better."
I didn't need the glare Gag gave me to tell me I'd chosen my words poorly.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Smooth.)
"I mean the both of you, I really don't know a huge amount..."
"And besides, Shining already has Cadence, you've got nothing to worry about, Gag," called Twinkle Shine.
Garnet and Gag gave a chuckle as I attempted to hide my blushing.
"Look, about all I really know is Gag's from Manechester, has two siblings, cats hate him, scan-cats hate him MORE, and he thankfully supports City not United so it could have been worse. And that's with him in my squad about a year, so I think it's easier I just try get to know both of you better at once."
"Ah. So, we're not getting transferred when we get back then?" Gag said.
"Wha... No. Why'd you think that?"
"I didn't, I was joking, Sir."
"...Could you maybe call me Shining for now?"
"...Okay, Shining For Now," Garnet nodded.
She and her coltfriend then high-hoofed at that. Admittedly that wasn't a bad joke.
"Uh, Si... Shining, what about Cutie Mark Stories? That's a pretty good icebreaker..." Gag tried.
"Not with non-ponies it isn't," I noted.
"But we're all ponies."
"Point..." I then recalled the hoofmaidens being nearby.
"Mine isn't really all that interesting though, all I did was protect somepony from bullies."
"Probably better to get a decent group together for that," Garnet said.
"True. So, uh, I don't really know much about Manechester and Esto Gaza. Never heard either of you say much..." Only reason that I really knew about Garnet's hometown was from her file.
"Well, Esto Gaza's a mining town really -like Canterlot used to be," Garnet began.
"Canterlot used to have mines?" Gag wondered.
"Yes, but we're not talking about Canterlot's old mines. I couldn't tell you much about them anyway."
I've heard three or four stories about the history of the mines, and one had words like 'unicorn supremacy, earth pony slaves' in it.
All I knew for sure was the catacombs and the last mines were now sealed off entirely. They'd been mined for natural gemstones used in anti-teleport wards on ships, but now, we had a more effective method of making those wards thanks to Roedinian technology. I actually recall them sealing up the entrance in Bahamut's Rest when I was a foal... Or now I do, at least. If you'd asked me a week ago I'd have told you they still mined in there. And that was just the tunnels from recent times, considering how ancient the place is there were probably even more.
Still couldn't tell you why my neighborhood was named after the king of the dragons though. Dates back to at least the time of the three tribes and like a lot of Canterlot areas, might have been a small village swallowed up when the city began to emerge, my family's lived in the area a long time, but I can't tell you why it's called that. We don't even have a giant comfy chair in the area or anything.
"I could probably tell you more about them than most Canterlot ponies anyway, Captain. It was a dual type mine operation, mana-infusion and natural dig. Canterlot stopped mana infusions twenty years ago, and mothballed the last shaft digging up natural gems five years ago, though my dad heard stories the Air Navy kept a shaft active beyond that for a while to stock up on something. But that's just recent, there's stories of mining going back to the time of the three tribes. For every known shaft there there's probably ten or twenty no creature has seen in hundreds if not thousands of years."
"Er, sure. What's Esto Gaza like then, is it both types?"
"All five types of ore recovery or growing actually. Conventional rock farming above ground where we use manastreams to naturally infuse ore seeds to grow ores and rocks, tower farming where we build up artificial hills or towers to reach higher-up manastreams, regular surface mining and shaft mining as well. There's two kinds of shaft mine, infusion and natural. Infusion is that there's a manastream down there that can be manipulated to grow ores, natural is there's just the ores down there. Canterlot didn't do any of the surface recovery methods in recorded history, it was all shaft mines legally speaking - even if the cave is natural it's still a shaft mine legally."
"Let me guess, for safety regulations?"
"Yup. Anyway, we also have rhubarb farms where we grow 'em in big sheds using only candlelight. But most of the town is miners. Ponies, Diamond Dogs, heck, we even have a few big caves in the hill for any dragons that want to come do a little work. The dragon migrations usually pass over every couple of years so it's nice to keep them welcome. Works out in both directions really. We get some 'heavy machinery' for a bit, the Dragons get an easy meal compared to having to find and dig up unused gem caches while moving through Equestria."
"Do Dragons like rhubarb?"
"Yes, actually. Well, they like the leaves."
"Do they grow anything else like that?" Gag wondered.
"Actually, the mayor wondered if apples could be grown by candlelight, so he asked the apple farmers over in Wabznasm, a village a few miles away."
"What'd they say?"
"...Ha ha ha ha ha eeenope. Though I've heard Luna's planning to try implementing some low light plants she was in the process of breeding...one thousand years ago. As for what else we got up to in town, well, when we weren't annoying ponies in Wabznasm, we held dances a lot..."
"I guess that's why you're such a good dancer?" Gag cut in.
"Yup. We did all sorts of dancing really, not just the traditional Long Sword dances."
"Oh, that dance where you jump over swords on the ground?"
"No, a dance where the dancers use swords. It actually encouraged lots of ponies in town to try fencing and stuff for cutie marks... Uh, kinda hard to describe without seeing it..."
"It's like an Earth Pony version of that trick we saw in Zamunda from what I've heard," Gag said.
"...With more blood loss amongst amateurs."
"Ah, so, uh, I suppose that sort of thing encouraged you to become a medic?"
"Er, no, my friend broke his leg. But then I noticed how often ponies seemed to get injured in town. Mining accidents, sword dance and fencing accidents, eggball and hoofball accidents, cricket accidents..."
In fairness it's not easy to hold onto a paddle bat with just your mouth. Even for Earth Ponies, who can only use things like that with their mouths and thus need to be good at it. Baseball was a bit easier, since the bats had a pummel to make them a bit easier. Surprisingly that was actually a unicorn sport, which surprised a lot of ponies.
I'd probably not do too bad hitting the ball but the aiming bit's the trouble. I'm pretty good using a sword with my mouth, I figure. I was trained by the Guard to use my mouth as well in case, but the lesson that I got first that stuck was being told I could use one in my mouth and lots with my telekinesis by my uncle. Tell me what colt wouldn't be encouraged by that? At least two swords? Maybe even more? Kick-flank!
(Interviewer's Note (Unicorn): Wooden swords I hope.)
Yeah, with my uncle, at least. Of course, he was really trying to teach me how to fight without my horn without freaking me out by pointing out I could lose my horn or have magic sealed ... And I guess in training my poor aim encouraged me to train more swordfighting. It came in handy I suppose, even if training didn't include Existence Vampires.
"But yeah. I'm an only child and my parents aren't too rich. Easiest way for me to become a certified medical worker was joining the Guard, so I figured what the heck, maybe I could even become a doctor if they thought I was a good enough medic. Then I could go back home, work in the hospital or a GP practice... Maybe even find somepony to take home with me..." She grinned at Gag, who blushed in response.
There were quiet squees from nearby hoofmaidens. It was refreshing that they weren't for me for once.
"...Would your parents like me?"
"Well, you're from Lancantershire but I'm sure they'd not hold that disability against you. You're not that much into cricket anyway... And most of the Diamond Dogs in town will like how you hate Manechester United at least."
Most Diamond Dogs that followed Hoofball supported Leads United, since Leads is widely regarded as a Diamond Dog city. It's no surprise that the mining-heavy county of Yokeshire has so many Diamond Dogs when you think about it.
"So, Gag, you got any fun stories about Manechester? Other than having two crap Hoofball teams..."
"Captain, we've won more HA Cups and Premiership titles than you in the past five years even if the Gunners have a better overall record. But I guess it's my turn. Manechester... Well, you know how it attracts a lot of immigrant workers, right?"
"Yeah. I think you said your parents had something to do with trade unions?"
"Yeah, sort of. Dad was trying to organize better classes to teach new workers Equestrian. But the Chancellor of Lancanter refused to allocate funds, so he decided to try to get volunteers to teach them as well as try learn some languages himself. Long stories short, he met my mother and caught the eye of the union higher-ups."
"So your dad became a union leader and your mother led the classes?" Garnet asked.
"Yeah. But we lived on the ground so I knew lots of Deer, Diamond Dogs, Zebra, all sorts."
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Wait, it sounds like his talent would have been useful back home, how come he's with you?)
"Sorry to interrupt, Running, and no offense, but why'd you join the guard? Your talent sounds like it would have been useful back home."
"Nepotism. My parents were worried any job I'd get, everypony'd think they were behind it. Plus, I kinda wanted to go see things outside Manechester and, well, my parents encouraged me to do what I wanted, not try to follow the jobs they had."
Well, at least that means he might be open to the idea of living in Esto Gaza when he ends his enlistment.
"But Manechester's pretty cool. We've got a public transport system to rival Liberty City, but we used the underground canals for public transport as well as trams on street level. I used to get a Canalbus out to Manford Thirty-Sixborough to go get flying lessons: Everywhere close to my house was either the weather factory or airship flight paths, and my grandparents lived there. I'm not a great flyer really but flying reminds me of my grandparents. Any time I went out to Manford Grandma'd buy me a comic book, and she got me into Manega when I found my special talent. Granda had been in the Guard himself, he'd been a scout and he kinda taught me how to sneak around as well as fly carefully..."
"Reminds you? They're... not with you any more?"
"Yeah, they moved to Haywaii."
"Oh. I kind of thought..."
"Yeah, grandpa Letter won the lottery and used his funds to achieve his two dreams. Be able to move to Haywaii, and to send a telegram to every member of the House of Lord Senators calling them all jerks a thousand times."
"That was him? Running, when I was a junior lieutenant I did Ministry of Defense Post Office Sorting. After his anonymous telegrams came in, Sunny Days reported on it, and not a day later somepony signing as 'Princess Case' started sending... Wait... Celestia Ama... GHAAA!"
Grandpa Gag, you gave her a damned idea!
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): What did she do this time?)
She sent them all copies of that article, as well as a fair few copies of other embarrassing articles to some of them. As a result ponies thought that it was open season to send rude things to royals and government officials, and I had to sort Prince Blueblood's mail for a week until the craze died down. Including his usual fan mail that generally went unopened for the sanity of all involved. Sometimes I think Celestia should be the ponyification of trolldom instead of the sun...
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth): Trolls are really friendly once you get past their toughie outside.)
Anyway, we moved on.
"Couch and Overly Long... Eh, I don't think I can be fair about them at all. I love them to bits but they could be a real pain in the flank. They'll be even worse right now I bet, they'll be thinking about cutie marks. You know how it is, I bet."
"Not really, Twilight was oddly not too fussed about her cutie mark until she actually got it. I hear from...sources there's three extremely determined fillies in Ponyville though..."
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Perhaps you should let them know about those two when you meet them.)
Why?! I thought you made them out as walking disaster areas!
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Yes...but admittedly their friendship has done them a lot of good and will do others a lot of good, Shining. Far more good than the damage they could cause. So...it admittedly might not be the worst idea to give them the chance to make a Manechester branch and have some pen pals assuming those two don't have their Cutie Marks by then.)
Gotcha, I'll try to remember that.
"Oh, yeah, speaking of Manega do you do anything else like that?" I knew he did doujinshi, but never really got to know exactly what it was about.
"Yeah, I don't have a title for it yet, but I'm doing this doujinshi. It's kinda based on the whole thing with your sister and her friends..."
"Wait...what?"
"Don't worry, it's not a Sailor Luna type deal. Kinda more like Masked Bug Rider, with each of them transforming into an armored superhero, but only one at a time, each a different form. Problem is, I still need some big baddie for it. Princess Luna probably wouldn't be happy if I used her anymore."
"You could have a Neo-Hooviet super soldier villain who creates cyborgs for them to fight," I suggested. My new memories told me Deer in general hated the Hooviets enough seeing one get their flank kicked would probably go well. And besides, letting Gag blow up Nameless in manega form felt oddly karmic. And not like Masked Bug Rider hasn't had some freaky bad guys. If Azure Raven had actually existed as a person, they'd probably have based a villain off of him with almost no changes.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Monstrous, evil, created abominations against nature in his lab to try and take over the world, over the top hammy, gives a ton of monologs every five seconds, and turned into a monster right before being defeated...yeah, only thing missing is he didn't explode dramatically upon defeat.)
"Hehe, I like how you think sir!"
Gag showed me the concept art he had so far and surprisingly, it was pretty good stuff. I hadn't known Gag was artistic. I had to give him some tips on Twiley's personality, but admitted it was a tad outdated given recent events and told him to ask Cadence.
"Gag, is this kick move even anatomically possible?" Garnet asked, pointing to a picture of what I think was Twilight's friend...Rarity? I think kicking a monster in the face. It looked cool, but a real unicorn would've broken her leg trying it.
"No, but that's kinda the point, if it's physically possible, foals might imitate it."
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): For Celestia's sake let him do it! The CMC don't need more dangerous physically possible stuff to learn how to do!)
Don't worry, I encouraged that sort of stance. I did tell him from Twiley's letters to Cadence that Rarity's outfit needed to be a tad more fashion savvy, given she was a fashionista. Made me wonder if the kick fit her...
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): More than you know. She's also a talented martial artist.)
What?!
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Long story, but she is probably the most skilled fighter in the group, Applejack and Rainbow are good brawlers while she's more skill than strength.)
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): RD has studied martial arts too you know.)
Wow...learn something new every day.
About the only thing I never learned in the conversation had been where he'd decided bad jokes were the best way to make friends...
I wondered if maybe there were some different books in the library - We had a few nights to home still, and well, I'd been looking for a book... I recalled looking for a book that had been out at least... Gha, this two sets of memories thing is confusing, I remember reading all the interesting looking books too!
"Hey, Captive," I said, seeing Audience browsing as well.
"Afternoon, Sir," He nodded.
I quickly glanced at the ones he was checking... Defence of Derper's Drift, Starship Ponies...
"The Modern Peacekeeper, by Colonel Observant Audience and Lieutenant-Colonel Matrix?"
"Yes, sir. Fairly influential book..."
"Of course it is, they call Colonel Matrix 'The Commando' for forming Special Forces and you call The Brigadier 'dad'! So what's it like having an influential writer for a parent?" I joked.
"You'd know, Sir, what with your mother's books being big in Roedina..."
"Wait..."
"And the first one is supposed to be getting popular back home, of course."
"Wha... First one? But th..."
Oh no... It can't be.
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Oh horseapples...)
"The sequel is back in stock, Sir, I recall you saying you hadn't read it...."
"I was avoiding it!"
"Ah, good, Minuette owes me twenty bits then."
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Say, what's the sequel about?)
I, uh, I'm not su- Oh this is ridiculous, the escape shuttle landed on an alien planet? Where they found a lost colony that just so happened to have even more unattached stallions after they didn't have a chance to confess to each other at the end of the last one?!
"Still, it's a better setting than the one she wrote about a prince falling in love with the commander of his spearmaidens," I sighed, not sure if that'd existed before or not.
Hang on...
"I thought Spearmaidens was a brand of chewing gum," Thunderchild said.
"GHA! Where'd you come from?! And if you answer about a mummy and a daddy pegasus I am going to throw the book at you!"
"...Which book, Sir?"
"All of the books!"
"Oh. Even the Roedinian literature? There are some big books there..."
I took a glance at that section. It had expanded considerably since I last looked, which made sense, I guess. More books going back and forth, more deer who would've been forced into a certain job for the 'Greater Good' were instead able to express themselves as writers, and since the Hooviet Empire had collapsed, so had the Hooviets censorship machine... Hence a large number of political allegories, stories about collapsing empires, and one that I hadn't read before called 'Good Bye Father Deer'. And a lot of noir thrillers, hard sci-fi, and a lot of nature-themed books.
Oh, and 'Daring Do and the Empire of the Crystal Skull' now had the Hooviets as the villains instead of the fictional baddies it had before. I guess the author didn't have to worry about irritating the easily offended dictatorship in this timeline. I think it's actually an improvement, if only because seeing Daring Do kick Hooviet flank was rather cathartic.Terrible book though. Too bad the new timeline didn't erase that Con Mane/Daring Do crossover or make it bearable...
Anyway, I'd found a book, so I retreated in case it turned out Dad had written a so-bad-it's-good political thriller or something.
I'd found myself invited to play tennis the next day. It seemed a few courts were being set up in the lower hangar. It wasn't really a game I was good at, but Ace had asked me to play, as had a few others. Cadence had been considering popping down.
I decided to go down while they were readying the courts. Unlike some ponies I didn't bother trying to put on a white shirt or that weird frilly belty thing mares wear.
(Interviewer's Note (Unicorn): It's called a skirt.)
Really? All I know is Cadence has one she doesn't get to wear that often.
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Really? How does she look in it?)
SC-1D female, pink with tricolored purple-pink-cream mane, about a meter tall and a meter long, wearing a scart.
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Huh?!)
(Interviewer's Note (Unicorn): Skirt. And did you just give a radio suspect or pony of interest description?!)
Yep. Species Classification One-D. Why do we have that? I just described why. Ask her sometime about her sneaking out of the castle when she was a filly. And tell her I was told in training. Thanks, Commander Boreale... You nutter.
Sneaking out of the cast.... How did he know?!
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Commander Boreale told him in the academy, apparently. There's an entire radio code to warn about an alicorn as a suspect pony, Cadence.)
The guard really had a separate code just so they didn't have to say 'alicorn' over the radios? Wow, I knew they tried to plan ahead or amend things to plan if it happened again, but that seems... I only snuck out once in a while!
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): It gets worse, we looked up the codes. SC-1 is pony, 2 is Griffin, 3 is diamond dog, hybrids are stuff like 1-2 for Hippogriffs and so on, but there's all sorts of mythological creatures on the code list too. SC-10 is humans, SC-14 is Sass Squash, SC-23 is just 'you'll know it when you see one' and SC-24 is Santa Hooves...)
Surely he'd be classed as a Reindeer? And wait, SC-10 is human? But SC-1D written down might look like... Oh. That explains all those 'human sightings' when I was a filly. Drat.
But there's over 24 codes and various sub-codes at times?! I'm glad I'm not a Guard, that just seems needlessly complicated to remember it all.
So anyway, not that I'm skirting the issue or anything but we should... Oh, skirt, as in covering, right, I get it now!
(Interviewers Notes (Pegasus): Do I need to tell you the irony in what you just said?)
No. And please don't tell the Hoofmaidens of this conversation, I dread them confusing me with some other odd garment, like trousers or something... So, I came down to find the courts seemed to have been marked out already, tape lines on the hangar floor. Ace, however, was moving a strange little green cube into the middle rather than setting up nets. Before you ask why he was setting it up, well, as a senior flight crew officer, this was technically his hangar to command. And he refused to order anypony to set up the court for him.
"Morning, Sparks! You're here early... And you do know it's tennis, right?" He pointed at my Marsenal shirt.
"Last time I wore barding at a racquet event it was because Ellis was trying exploding baseball..."
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): That's a thing?!)
Unfortunately yes. Moose seem to like it though.
"Er, surely the nets should go up?"
"Nope. I'm putting the turf down first," He said, then frowned.
"Or am I... Spanners, how's this work if you're a pegasus?"
His Unicorn co-pilot shrugged from where she was setting up a court of her own to play against a flight crew mechanic.
"Your wing, Ace."
"Ah, yes. Haven't figured these out yet. If they were airships..."
He touched the cube with his wing... and it began to spread out inside the tape-marked lines.
"What on..."
"Come on, Sparks, you've seen the artificial turf before. It's not that surprising. Best thing the Roedinians ever exported if you ask me, after all the new medicine, the vodka, and the suicidal novelists. Now we can set up the net..."
I lost the short round we played, of course. But judging by all the snickering you knew that, yes?
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Yup, sorry, it's just ya were... Ya weren't kidding when ya said it weren't your game.)
Better at tennis than I am at archery. Anyway, it was at this point Cadence and the hoofmaidens arrived.
"Say, Sparks, what about a doubles match? You and the Princess on one side, me and Spanners on the other?"
"Well, uh... I'm not sure..."
"Good morning, Gentlecolts!" Cadence said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Your Highness. We've just finished on this court, and I was wondering if you might be interested in a little challenge, ma'am," Ace spoke before I could halt him.
"Challenge?"
"Yes, a doubles match: Myself and Spanners versus yourself and Captain Sparkle."
She pondered this even as I saw the hoofmaidens get those expressions.
"Minny, what rhymes with tennis?"
"Tennis match, hatch. We can use that."
"That could be interesting," Cadence nodded.
"Er, Princess, I'm not a great player..." I tried to say.
"I think you should try it!" Minuette stuck her oar in.
"Hm, well, I do better in team games really so maybe I'll balance you out?"
Drat. Harmony goddess.
"You, uh, haven't had a warm-up round yourself, and it'll leave the hoofmaidens a player short..."
"My coltfriend will be down shortly, we were actually one over already," Sunset helpfully explained.
I think it was Prince Blueblood's great-grandfather who once said 'Buck. Buck! Buck, buck, buck and buck! Buck, buck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, buck, buck, plot! Balls! Balls, buck, bucketty, horseapples, horseapples, buck, and udders!'
(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): D: )
It's a quotation. But they had planned this, hadn't they...
"So, Sparks, any other excuses to avoid helping a Princess lose or are you up for it?"
I sighed.
"Fine..."
"Nice shirt, by the way, Captain..." Cadence then quickly noted.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Quick, compliment her skirt! )
She's not wearing a skirt! Besides, this is giving the hoofmaidens a veritable arsenal as it is!
Naturally, Cadence did better than me, but we did actually make a good team. And I made the game point...wait...I just made the game point?!
I just stared at the ball for a second. Ok, admittedly, I'd won games before, but still!
"We won!" yelled Cadence in excitement. She hugged me and, caught up in the excitement, I returned it...then we both realized what had just happened and quickly separated, blushing so much no fur color could hide it.
"Well...good game..." said Cadence, clearing her throat.
"Y-yeah...likewise," I replied, not even wanting to look at the Hoofmaidens. Unfortunately, they had already started a song so cheesy I think a mouse would've been full for a week.
Ace just smirked.
"Yes, good game. You and the Captain make a good partnership, Princess."
I held the groan in.
"Well, I'm afraid I have a few things to do, so I'll be going now," I lied. I didn't try for a specific situation, I was afraid I'd say I'd have to go feed my radio or something.
"That's a shame, Captain, you and the Princess could have played Sunset and Ranger," Twinkle Shine tried (and failed) to look innocent.
"Got a little to go check up on myself actually," Ace also lied.
Seriously, with all these liars around here there must a harp shortage back in Equestria.
Ace was of course, following me for no good reason, which is to say, to tease me.
"So, Sparks, everypony's noticed it but you know me, I'm blunt. Not as blunt as Lord Flashheart..."
"I think he's more of a bludgeon," I agreed.
Admittedly, that was me being polite. He was more like getting hit in the face with a water balloon filled with skunk spray; hits hard, makes you nauseous, and no matter how hard you try, you can't make it go away.
"...but yeah, you and the Princess. You ought to at least take a shot."
"Oh, sure, I'll miss and everything will be awkward. And why are we talking in so many metaphors today?"
"You know what I mean, Shining. It's obvious you both get along, and you're good enough friends to realize if it can't go further you can go back," He continued.
"She's also a Princess, an Alicorn, my Commanding Officer, as well as a very good friend of my sister and I don't want to risk losing because I was daft enough to give in to whatever madness possesses everypony about this whole thing!"
I'd raised my voice enough to get a look from a Marine, but Ace was as cool as always.
"Fair points, Shining. But tell me this: Do they really matter to you? No, don't tell me, actually. Why not ask yourself? Think it all through. Remember that quote, if you know neither yourself or your opponent, you will lose in every battle."
"That's about war, Ace."
"And all is fair in love and war. Just try to think about it honestly, Shining. Regretting not trying things can be worse than trying and failing sometimes," He said, and left me to head for my cabin in peace.
"So you're Spike huh?" I said looking over the baby dragon sucking it's tail. My sister had just became the our Princess' personal student, she turned our parents into plants for a few seconds, and I was talking to a baby dragon. It was official my life was just plain freaking weird. Trust me, past me, it'll only get weirder...
The dragon looked up at me innocently, so much cuter than when he was crying his lungs out. Sort of like how Twiley used to be, then again mom and dad said Twiley was a little too quite for a baby sometimes.
"Yeah! His full name is Kenbroath Gillspotten Heathspike VII! He's being raised by The Princess! But I'm the one who feeds him, make sure he doesn't get hurt, talk to him about stuff, and uh . . . clean him up," Twiley, admitted the last part meekly and giving a cute little 'yuck!' face.
"Sounds like you're the one doing the raising," I smiled and gave her mane a gently rubbing. "Smarty Pants jealous yet?"
"Uh, no she isn't." Twiley blushed a little. HEH! So cute! "And the Princess is raising him, she said so to the school staff when they asked if it was safe for me too. Right after she told me that I had to make sure Spike grew up to a good dragon and that he could always trust me to look out for him and that this was part of being her personal student! And she's always ready nearby to help if something bad happens."
Yeah. Sounds like raising to me, with grandma supervision. Then I remembered, some animals imprinted on the first creature they saw and thought it had to be their mother. Were dragons the same? Did Spike see Twilight first? Maybe Twiley was the only one who could raise Spike if that was the case. But who knew anything about dragons? You'd think us having a treaty with the Queen of the Dragons would've changed that.
Twiley took the moment to snuggle Spike . . . and wouldn't ya know? Twiley had a tiny tinny little magic surge, her last one really, most outgrow them by her age, but my sister, heh, her body always had more mana than it knew what to do with. And she was holding Spike at the time, and later I'd be told that Spike's magic signatures had imprinted on Twiley . . . Long story short. Spike did what he wouldn't be doing until YEARS later . . . and his belch of flames engulfed me. . . and my uniform was now on Princess Celestia's tea table. Some mares walking by giggled at me as I curled my tail between my legs.
I heard Twiley crying in her bedroom, they didn't sound like tears of joy over getting her cutie mark.
I opened the door, and saw her crying on her bed hugging Smarty Pants for dear life, I trotted next to her. "Twiley, what's wrong?"
She look up at me, red eyed, hiccuping and a runny nose. "Some...some of the grownups said...they said I'm a monster. They said somepony should lock me up so I can't hurt anypony...I-I turned mommy and daddy into plants and made that cute little baby dragon into a monster...maybe they're right..." She didn't stop crying.
Twiley, I never imagined . . . no I wasn't scared of her when I heard she turned mom and dad for a minute into plants. I thought it was weird, not terrifying. She was Twiley, she was always Twiley. She'd never hurt ponies, just cause. We all make mistakes, I knew The Princess would help her get a grip on all her extra magic. I was honestly more scared for her than of her.
And ... I knew where she was coming from. My magic? My shields? When I was a colt, when the grown ups didn't think I was listening, they talk with my parents, saying my magic was too powerful. That I could put a shield around a pony's head and suffocate them, or put a force field inside a pony and expand it, or a hundred other horrible things. That was stupid and dad told them so. I think one or two of those ponies who kept pushing ended up being introduced to his hoof. Sure my magic was really strong. But my magic was to protect ponies, not hurt them.
I hugged her. "Twiley, you're not a monster, Princess Celestia wouldn't have accepted you as her student if she thought you were, she'll make sure everything will be okay...and so will I."
She look up to me again with tears still in her eyes. "R-really? You promise, BBBFF?"
I gives her a smile. "Yeah, promise. Don't worry about a thing, Twiley, I've got yer back. I've always been there for you and I'm always going to be."
She looked at me more, at least she'd know I wasn't scared of her... "...O-okay...Thank you, BBBFF...And I'll have yours if you need it too, okay?"
"Okay. Happy to know I can count on you too Twiley."
The letter was from Twiley, you wouldn't have guessed from the horn writing that it was done by a filly. I wonder how her entrance examine went. I heard some of the guards say they saw a dragon rise out of the castle then vanish, what kind of crazy wizards are they letting into that school? I hope Twiley wasn't there when it happened.
I had wanted to be there for her, I really did. But my training regiment conflicted with the timing and it was every bit as strict as one would expect it to be. Just getting out of it wasn't an option.
I opened it up, my jaw dropped. The first page was only one sentence and a photograph held in place by a paperclip.
It was a photo of Twiley . . . grinning ear to ear next to the Princess. On her flanks was a star surrounded by little ones. But that wasn't made my jaw drop.
There was a card Twiley was magically holding. Written in elegant high-equestrian with crayons were the words 'New Personal Student!'
BBBFF! Guess what?!
My thoughts were as followed:
Twiley! You got your cutie mark! Congrats little sister!!!
Wait...What?!
Faint making a goat noise.
Upon awakening get the first break I could and gallop home to give my little sister the biggest hug I possibly could.
So here I was, my first day at the guard academy. I'd been accepted and was on my way to becoming a royal guard, Uncle Cool Sun would be delighted, but I wasn't doing this to impress family, I wanted to protect ponies the same way I had protected and looked after Twiley.
I was seated with four other stallions, all Earth Ponies. One was had a cream colored coat with a brown mane, with three horseshoes as his cutie mark, he introduced himself as Caramel and was from Ponyville. He showed us a picture of a pretty blue pegasus mare and was about to tell us her name when,
"Don't, just don't," Said the blue earth pony with a dark blue mane and two musical notes as she cutie mark.
"Why? She's a nice girl," Caramel said looking a the pretty picture.
"Don't you know what HAPPENS to Guards who talk about their girl friends? They're the ones who always get blown up or eaten by the monster first!"
"I thought it was the guards who ponies knew the most about that didn't get eaten," Caramel said unsure.
"It's a little less likely to get eaten by monsters when ponies know your name, mine's Note Worthy. Wanna be friends? The more ponies who know us, the less likely we're gonna be eaten."
"Guys, that's all just a myth," Said a brown stallion with a faded hay colored mane that needed a good combing (Celestia was very lax when it came to mane style in her guard), his cutie mark was a banjo. "There aren't no proof that's how it works."
"No no no, seriously, it does, I know ponies who research this sort of thing."
"You guys make it sound like guards get eaten by monsters everyday," I said jumping in, "My uncle is in the guard, he never mentions stuff like that."
"Of course they woudn't," Note Worthy said.
"Why are you even in the guard then?" Caremel asked.
"Erm, kinda a family thing."
"Your dad's a guard?"
"No, he just thinks being a Royal Guard will do me some good."
"So is your family Guards a lot? I'm Banjo by the way."
"Shining Armor." We shook hooves. "And no, just my uncle mostly. You?"
"Naw. Family was sure surprised when I did though."
"My family has ponies in the guard," said the last pony I was sharing this ride with, a beige stallion with a dark almost black mane, his cutie mark was a cherry. "Though we have plenty of other members in the cherry business. Call me Cherry Fizzy, or Cherry Coke, I can go by either."
"Nice to meet you Cherry Coke," I said happily, after all, I didn't know who I was going to be bunking with, so I might as well be on good terms with everypony. "So . . . nice to meet you all fellow new recruits, uh, any of you play Oubliettes and Ogres?"
Caramel blinked at me, "You're into engineering? Can I see some of your designs?"
Banjo rose an eyebrow but shrugged, "So you're into ogers? Well, whatever floats your boat."
Half-Note politely shook his head, "Sorry, I'm not really into that whole crop and bridle stuff."
Cheery Coke coughed and blushed, "Uh . .. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh no no," I said, "It's nothing like that, it's just a game, you play with dice and-"
Cherry Coke covered my mouth, "Can I speak to you privately for a second?"
The others looked at us funny, we were almost at the academy by the looks of things, and would let off and meet the other new cadets for this year. In other words we didn't have much for 'privately' but Cherry Coke managed. He whispered, "Look Shining, if you want anypony to take you seriously, you better get into stallionly like hoofball or polo, and get into it fast unless you want to be seen as a weirdo."
"I was seen as pretty weird in high school." I whispered back. "In fact weird seems to follow me..." Great, I even attracted weirdness in high school...
"This isn't high school. This is the Guard Academy, and unless you want to be seen as a clown they'll brush under the rug, you need to fit in."
"How'd you know? This is your first time here too isn't it?"
"I told you I have family in the Guard."
"So do I, and my uncle never found anything wrong with my hobby."
"But he's not playing it. I had . . . a relative who introduced me to O&O, and he never got a promotion in his life. Trust me, if word gets around you play that game, ponies aren't going to think you're guard material."
"If I wasn't guard material I wouldn't be here."
"And you'll stay material unless you keep your stuff in the closet! I love the game too, level 19th thief/assassin, but there are just some things you don't discuss in front of others. I won't give his name, but a stallion got investigated and his career ruined all because they mistake his game chatting for an actual scheme to attack the Princess. So please get into hoofball or polo and learn to love it!"
"What was that about dice? And assassin?" Note Worthy asked.
"Nothing." I said, sighing, "Just a novel I'm writing. So any of you guys seen last week's hoofball game?" The captain of Canterlot Acadamy's Polo team had been my school's jerk jock, Buck Withers, if I had to pick one, it wouldn't be that one.
"TEN HUT!" Bellowed an 'assertive' and 'take charge' voice a few minutes later, and so my first day began.
"Well guys, this is it," I said, already wearing my uniform, taking one last look at the room the four of us used for our Oubliettes and Ogres game.
"You know I'm going to go nuts trying to find a player as good as you, and rework my storyline with you gone." Graffer said in a friendly tone and straight face.
"You could always play him yourself," I grinned.
"No. Way. Running a world for you guys is hard enough without having to run you too," my fellow unicorn said frowning.
I shrugged, "Was worth a shot."
Graffer's life was this game, the red eight sided dice on his flank marked it as his special talent after all.
"You know my pegasus had a crush on your paladin, she'll be sure to write a fairwell poem for me." Poindexster said adjusting his glasses.
"I know it'll be nice," I said.
"Seriously, we'll miss having you around Shining." Poindexster said, "But don't worry, I'm sure my robot-player can fill in the mean time."
"You're joking!" Said 8-Bit, the gray pegasus spread his wings, his cutie mark might have been a Space Invader, but that didn't stop from enjoying other games. You know. I never realized how much he and Thunderlane look alike. Thunderchild insists he and Thunderlane aren't related, but 8-Bit on the other hoof doesn't have a similar name and looks a lot like Thunderlane, this makes my head hurt.
"The last time we used that thing when Shining had a cold, it burned down the orphanage, stole our magic items when it was on watch, used my character as a shield when it set off that 'wall of blow darts' trap, started two fights with the trolls we were supposed to be negotiating with, blew the party's gold on an enchanted sword only SA's character could use, and it refused to chip in for the pizza and ate all the cheesy puffs!"
"I've worked out the bugs I swear!"
"Of-course-those-were-all-natural-20s. You're-being-a-killer-DM. That-fruit-seller-was-clearly-armed-and-dangerous."
"It's still not the WORST player I've ever had," said our orange and white unicorn with his nice curly green mane. "Shining, seriously, you've been a good friend. You didn't show up just for the game, you showed up for us, and you showed up outside of the game! It wasn't just about the game. I just want to say thank you for that. It means a lot to me. I'm happy you loved my world of course, but I'm even happy that I can have you as a friend. Heh, and just think, you'll be able to wear that cool armor in real life and no one will bat an eyelash." Too bad that part didn't work out so well. Too bad Cadence has a taste for purple armor.
"Hey Shining," Said 8-Bit.
"Yes?"
"Yes?"
"When my family moved to Canterlot from Cloudsdale, my little sister had to leave her friends behind. She cried when she told them goodbye. But when, years later, I brought them up, she didn't even remember their names. All she really remembered was when Cadence foalsat her."
We had tried to introduce Twiley to 8-Bit's sister to socialize her a little, but Twiley couldn't have cared less about her would-be playmate and kept her muzzle buried in her book the entire time she was there.
"My point is Shining," 8-Bit continued, "Please don't forget about us. Ponies change, the world changes, ponies drift apart and make new friends. But please, don't forget us."
I gave 8-Bit a hug, "Don't worry about it! I won't! I could never forget you guys." I grinned. "No matter how hard I tried!" I teased.
"And as if I could ever forget about any of you!" 8-Bit laughed. "That uniform makes you look like a bellcolt by the way."
"HA! You'll change your tune once you see me in my set of armor! You'll just WISH you'd look as good in it!"
"I'll stick to dangers and monster on games screens thank you." 8-Bit said clamly.
"Shining, just don't go doing something crazy in that suit of armor," said Graffer, "There are no resurrect spells in real life."
"His sister would probably invent one if anything happened to him."
"Not funny Poindexster!" We all said together.
"Sorry." The earth pony shrunk a little.
"So Shining, just be careful, great to see you want to be a real hero in real life, but just promise you won't do anything stupid trying to be one."
"Trust me Graffer, I'm a defenser, not an attacker, mine is shield magic remember? I'm joining to help ponies, not beat monsters up."
"Heh, you're the same in or out of game. Go get'em paladin." We bro-hoofed.
"Oh Shining Armor, before you go-"
"For the last time Poindexster, I don't think my little sister needs a robot-friend."
"No no no, this is completely different. Here ya go!" He pulled out a big book from under the table and placed on top, resulting in a hug shaking. I paled and looked at the title. "The Equestrian Guard Completely And Total Unabridged Rule Book?"
"Oh and this one too."
He gave me a much smaller book titled: ''How to Get Promoted In the Equestrian Guard For Foals'
"Gee thanks," I said flatly.
"A good friend always thinks about their friend's future!" Poindexster said proudly.
"Hey. You're gonna miss your ride Shining," said Graffer looking at the clock.
"Alright. See ya guys. And don't worry, I won't forget ya, I know you won't forget me."
I was our family's doorway. I'd been standing here maybe a little long. I was ready to leave, really, I was. I had told my family how much I loved much last night, really I did, we told each other how everything would be okay and everypony needs to leave the nest sometime! My parents were fine with that now, and so I was. No, really we were!
We had hugged each other good bye, mom had given me a great goodbye kiss, dad had given me a few encouraging words and a hug of his own. They gave me some last minute advice on how to take care of myself they might have forgotten to give me during my foalhood and adolescent years. I smiled. I had been looking forward to this for a long time, and the day was finally here! It was time to be my own stallion at last!
But something was holding me back.
"Twiley, please drop the force field."
And I mean that literally.
"NO!"
I canceled it out with a forcefield of my own. Instantly a wall of tightly packed stuffed animals and books blocked my path instead.
"See? Smarty Pants want you to stay!"
"Twiley, I'm going to miss the airship, and I already have a stop I need to make on the way."
"I don't care. You should just stay here with me."
"Now you listening here young lady-" Dad began. Twiley growled at him, making him back off. "-you listen to your mother."
I don't know if dad was afraid of Twilight's magic...or just disappointing his daughter. I think both were equally terrifying to him.
Mom glared at him as he pushed her to the front line. Mom looked at Twiley. "Now Twilight dear, your big brother has some important things to do at the academy. And he's not going to be gone forever. He'll visit us, he'll be back before you know it."
"Then he should just stay here!"
Mom sighed. Then said more strenly. "Twilight Sparkle. You stop this nonsense. You're being selfish."
"No! You're being selfish! You're letting him go! And BBBFF! You said we were gonna be pals forever! You can't leave me!" She looked pleadingly at me. Scared.
The wall was reinforced by a book fort that I suddenly found myself the prisoner of. Twiley grinned at me. "See big brother? You don't need to go anywhere! You can just stay here and be the guard for my castle! I'm gonna be a princess someday! So you can just be my royal guard instead!"
I knelt down as much as I could inside the book fort. "But I'm not a royal guard yet. And I'm not going to ever be one if I'm just kept here. I need to go and learn how to be a royal guard. There are some things you can't learn from books Twiley." Uh-oh.
"That's a lie!" Tiwley snapped back. "Mom and dad say it's bad to tell lies, right?" She glanced at them.
"He's not lying sweetheart."
Twiley's eyes widened. "But--but--... "
I sighed. "Twiley . . ." I tried to figure out how to word this to her, Twiley was smart, she acted so adult sometimes, but as the saying goes, 'it's the foals who act the most adult who are the most childish.' "What if I kept you from going to the library because it was far away, and it meant I wouldn't see you for a while? Would it be fair for me to keep you here because I didn't want you to go? Would it be selfish for mom and dad to help you go to the library if I wasn't letting you?"
Twiley startled, "But-I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO AWAY!"
"I know Twiley." I nuzzled her from inside my book prison. "But you want to get into Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns don't you?"
She brightened. "Yes! I know I am!"
"And . . . you know you'll be living in the castle if you're accepted right?"
She looked unsure. "Uh . . . yes?" She hadn't thought about it much.
"Then maybe we'll meet each other at the castle, that's where lots of Guards are right? And when we're both finished, let's both meet back here. Promise? Because I'd never ever, stop you from going to the castle Twiley, not because I don't love you, but because I know you have your heart set on it. And you know I have my heart set on this right?"
"R-right." She sniffled a little.
"And if I stay here, I won't accomplish my dreams, just like you wouldn't if I forced you to stay here."
Twiley meekly nodded.
"So please Princess Twiley, will you let your royal guard become a proper Guard for your highness?"
"Y-yes." Tiwley whimpered and the book fort opened and the plush army parted ways.
"That's a brave filly," I hugged her. Mom and dad did the same. Everypony gave me a a extra hug and kissed. "Bye Twiley, I promise we'll each other."
"A-alright B-BBFF!" She waved along with Smarty Pants.
"I won't say makes us proud, because I know you will!" Dad smiled.
"Go going before I decided to keep you here myself," mom said.
I grinned, waved, blew a kiss to the family I loved so much, two for my little sister, and followed mom's advice. Hopefully I still had time to give one last goodbye to my friend.
At least my ceiling hadn't changed. Graffer, 8-Bit, 'Gizmo', when was the last time I saw them? When was the last time I had even thought of them? When was the last time I thought about being a paladin in Graffer's fantasy world?
After becoming Cadence's bodyguard, becoming the Captain of an entire new branch of the Guard, finally getting to spend time with Cadence again after too many years away, saving the world, bonding with my squad mates . . . and really getting into hoofball. I could almost imagine Graffer crying like a baby at the sight of me geeking out over hoofball memorabilia. I didn't have much time to think about much else besides my own story. I know Graffer would approve of that last bit at least. Maybe we should compare notes?
I hadn't even bought the 4th and 5th edition Oubliettes and Ogres guidebooks. It really had been a long time.
'Gizmo' (he had changed his name), last I checked was in Ponyville, but 8-Bit and Graffer were still in Canterlot. I had to make a point to see them next chance I got.
So I take it these dreams have been my life filling in backwards?
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Uh...what makes you say that?)
Because you said I was in the middle filling in both ways, and I keep dreaming about my past. I'm not Twilight, but I'm smarter than I look...I like to think so at least.
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): I'm not entirely sure, considering you're still very usual as far as...entities like you are. But that might be a good guess.)
Alright, and thank you.
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): For what?)
For not making me live that night over again, thank you. The night Uncle Cool Sun died. The night my mistakes cost somepony I loved their life, my little sister the uncle she loved like I did, my parents a brother, and now I know stopped an good mare from meeting her husband, and stopped an innocent filly from ever being born, and any family she might have had.
The night I lost control. The night I used my magic for the exact opposite of what it was meant for and everything I believed it to be. The night I ended the life of another thinking creature for the first time. Thank you.
(Interviewer's Notes Unicorn: (Don't fixate on how things might have gone Shining, down that road lies the Nightmares.)
Don't worry, I know that, trust me, I don't know if you have any control over what I dream about or not, but thank you. After everything I've endured . . . I'd probably just endure it anyway. But thank you. I just want to protect Cadence, be with my family, and be a good leader to my guardmates. Thank you. Thanks for letting me dream about some good times instead!
Mom and dad are right, you can look back on those embarrassing times and laugh.
Graffer, Cherry Coke, Spike, Twiley, thank you so much for making sure I have happy memories to look back on.
I'm happy to know past me, erm, further past me is handling himself. But what about my the present and future? Or rather 'less far back in the past me' and 'present me'? My friend's and family's? Cadence's?
It was an odd feeling to be honest. After spending months paranoid of an unseen evil out for my very existence...it seemed it was all over the second Nameless met his demise.
One minute I was fighting a war that made the Griffin Wars look like a pie fight, surrounded by death and destruction, struggling with everything I had to stop a mad stallion from plunging the world into a never ending nightmare. The next Nameless had never even existed, the Hooviets had imploded twenty years ago. Wars and conflicts had either never happened or were greatly reduced in scope and death toll. No Hooviets meant they weren't around to stir the pot and keep wars going that would've ended earlier. Yes, the Hooviet collapse had caused the areas it had controlled and influenced to destabilize, but Equestria and Columbia, among others had been able to help stopping it from turning into a long bloody civil war it could've been. And WOULD have been if Azure Raven had been around.
The world I'd lived in before wasn't exactly at war, but there was that constant fear of the Hooviets hanging over it, the wars they'd instigated and the fear they'd do it again at any moment. And it was just...gone. A cold war was replaced with peacekeeping efforts leading to a more stable and peaceful world. Tartarus, Mosroe was previously a stop that had me on pins and needles, dreading when we got there even before I'd made an enemy of their most senior soldier. Now I was looking forwards to it, if only to see Mother Deer when her children weren't murdering each other and suffering under a tyrannical empire. If you'd told me that a few weeks ago, I'd have told you you were crazy.
I felt like we were going to have smooth sailing from here on out. That I didn't have to worry. Maybe I could finally stop looking over my shoulder and enjoy the trip. Maybe this would just be a simple diplomatic tour from here on out.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Remember what you said about thinking about things like that?)
Darn it!
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Hehe, just pulling your leg, Shining...)
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3866494
To each their own. I'm impressed you're reading MY fic. Since the idea is things to start out ugly and dark, and turn hopeful and light, basically the opposite of what most fics do. Thank you for reading.
3791984
Thanks!
3770361
THe Shining Armor saga still has some story tell.
3764518
Thanks!
Should be interesting to see how things go now...
.........Nameless has already perishedm and yet there is still a lot of chapters.........what else is there gonna be? Though I hope Celestia gives Shining answers to questions that I am constantly dwelling on, like how much she knows about the stalker.
Also:
Yep, plus Pesterchum's kind of neat, if basic.
They'd probably break their legs trying to see if it was possible.
Menace?
I hope we can stop jumping around the timeline all willy nilly and get back to a more linear narrative.
Just be careful when you're days away from retirement. And always remember to double tap.
Nah, my lore bards undead army eats 'em for breakfast.
Wait, you multiclassed rogue/rogue? whyyyyyyyy? I'd understand moon druid with a three level dip into barbarian for that sweet bear totem, but holy crap.
She'd totally rip Shining away from Mortis unicorn or alicorn.
Ah, so you were that far back in the game. 5th edition really streamlined things.
9694577
It is her destiny apparently one day to be the only being to best Mortis in combat or something like that.
9694577
They completely mangled the lore in 4th edition.